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Saturday, November 15, 2008

Blair is still loving her bottles, but we had to decrease the frequency of them to every other feeding, because she gets really worn out. They just alternate tube and bottle feeding her, so I go at 8, 2, and 8 to feed her with the bottle. She's still spending a lot of her energy to breathe, so we need to give her some more time before we push her too hard.We haven't seen much improvement on her settings and stats this week, but she's doing fine and gaining weight, and the doctor is still optimistic about her going home before too much longer. Home is something that we've learned not to dwell on though!

Blair still responds well to the breathing treatments. They gave her a diuretic to help dry up some of the stuff in her lungs and reduce some swelling, and she looks a lot better than she did midweek. Her face was swollen some Wednesday, but I really don't know why. An echo cardiogram this week showed that there is some increased pressure on the right side of her heart, so they are putting her on some medicine to help her heart work more effectively. Since Blair's lungs were so terribly diseased, her heart experienced increased pressure at the beginning, and they have been watching it. The whole physiology of it is over my head, but basically the right ventricle of the heart is working harder than normal to pump blood into the lungs. The nurse described it to me as one of the type hurdles that very sick babies meet along the way. Her heart is healthy, but it is not good for it to be stressed, so hopefully the medicine will help.

One of the funniest things that we experience almost daily is Blair sneezing. Each one is the textbook, cartoon, ah-ah-ah choo sneeze, and they make her so mad. They are just so much bigger than her! She usually sneezes three or four times, so last night I took a picture. I'm going to spare her the future embarrassment of posting the picture, but I'm glad we have it to remember! The pictures here are also from last night.

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Child of God, wife of a farmer, mom to a miracle, RN; picture taker, animal lover, Spanish speaker, world traveler, former high school teacher. I love food, knitting, blogging, and living in a small town. I write about a little of all of the above!

Brad is my husband of 6 years and the reason I live across the branch. From a very young age he knew he'd be a farmer. God gave him the love and the talent -- and he's the best looking and the best dressed farmer I know! He's funny, creative, and he's the most wonderful husband and father. He's the one that can make Blair light up like no other.

Blair is four! We are so blessed to have her. She was born very sick, but God gave her strength and brought her through it. She has hearing loss called Auditory Neuropathy and wears hearing aids. She also has chronic lung disease, but you wouldn't know by seeing her! She is the busiest, funniest little thing who keeps us laughing and on our toes. I thank God for her every day.

Leighton is the happy roly poly who joined our family this summer. He has been a joy and is as sweet as his big sister! He's such a blessing, and we're so thankful for him!